Lord of the Flies - Chapter 2

Lord of the Flies - Chapter 2

1. Characters

   • Jack
     • Rushes off to the mountain to build a fire - gets everyone to immediately follow him - natural leadership - doesn't like Piggy for being useless and complaining
   • Ralph
     • Follows Jack to the mountain and is annoyed at Piggy for being so slow - tells the others how good the island is
   • Piggy
     • Thinks that rushing of to the mountain was a stupid idea - laughs at them when their fire gets out of hand and then realises that they killed the Mulberry boy in the fire - gets bullied by Jack - " 'You got your small fire alright!' ", "Like a crowd of kids"
   • Mulberry Boy
     • Gets killed in the big fire on the mountain - they all feel terrible but only Piggy accepts the truth

2. Plot

   • Jack, Ralph and Simon come back and tell everyone what a good island it is - " ' Wacco. Wizard.' " , " 'But this is a good island.' "
   • Ralph has the idea of building a fire on the mountain to send smoke signals so they can be rescued
   • Jack get everyone to follow him to the mountain and begin building a fire, except Piggy.
   • Piggy argues with Jack and Ralph because Jack bullies him and then he realises that the mulberry boy is dead
   • A littl'un asks Ralph what he is going to do about the beastie and the fear of the Beast begins.

3. Settings

   • The fire
     • "Their faces were lit redly from beneath."
     • "whole limbs yielded passionately to the yellow flames that poured upwards and shook a great beard of flame twenty feet in the air."
   • The dead trees (jungle)
     • "Trees, forced by the damp heat, found too little soil for full growth and fell and decayed early."
   • The mountain

4. Themes & Symbols

   • Fire
     • Represents hope of rescue because they light it to make smoke to get rescued.
     • Represents destruction because it burns out of control and kills the mulberry boy.
   • Piggy's Glasses
     • Symbolises weakness, especially in Piggy.